Musings from the Herb Farm and Soap Shop

I have been baking since I was a child when my parents would give us the option to either finish up milking the cows or go up to the house and bake something for our evening snack.  Needless to say, I was out of the milk house in a flash!

One of my favorite recipes, this time of year is my Grandma Schnell’s Butter Cookie Recipe.  Over the years I have perfected it.  You see, the art of a great butter cookie is more than just a good recipe.  Trick #1 is to roll the dough thick, preferably just under 1/2 inch.  Trick #2 is use an old-fashioned cookie cutter.   The metal cookie cutters work best not the thin plastic cutters.  I prefer to use the type with the rippled edges as you can see below.

Trick #3 is bake them lightly.  Pull them out of the oven when you pickup a cookie and can see a light browning on the bottom.  This will create a nice soft cookie.  Trick #4 is to follow the recipe I show below.  It produces a nice, light fluffy buttery cookie that your family will love. 

Butter Cookie Recipe

1 c butter

1 c sugar

1 tsp cream of tartar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream the softened butter and sugar together.  Then add the cream of tartar, eggs, and vanilla.  Fold in the flour and baking soda.  Combine into a large ball and then separate to the size you would like to roll out.  I usually separate the batch into two balls.  Put flour down on a clean surface, rub some on your rolling-pin too, and roll out to just under 1/2 inch.  Use cookie cutters and place unbaked cookies on a baking sheet and bake until just slightly brown on the bottom in a 350º oven.  I am not even going to give a time as you really need to eyeball this as every oven is different.  Once you have your first pan or two baked, you can jot the time down for your next batch.  Once the cookies are baked, place them on waxed paper to cool.

Merry Christmas!  I hope your family loves your next batch of butter cookies as much as mine!

Happy herbal holiday,

Deb